Marvel Puzzle Quest

[SackAttack]

And we're back up to 20. Welcome aboard.

[Umbrella]

For building rosters, what is your strategy? Right now, I have kept 3 1* characters for deadpool daily. I have a few 2*, of which Thor and Storm are close to being maxed out, and then a bunch of 3*, and a couple 4*. The 3 and 4* characters for the most part only have 1 power.

I guess my question is, should I keep a level 25 2* with 4-5 powers over a level 40 3* with only one power? Or perhaps the better question is which is better, level or powers?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

For building rosters, what is your strategy? Right now, I have kept 3 1* characters for deadpool daily. I have a few 2*, of which Thor and Storm are close to being maxed out, and then a bunch of 3*, and a couple 4*. The 3 and 4* characters for the most part only have 1 power.

Gonna be honest, 3 1*, if you're keeping them for DDQ, is 2 more than you need. Level 50 Iron Man can handle anything the 1* DDQ fight can throw at him. I have Iron Man and Spider-Man as 1*, mostly because I really like the 1* Spidey's power set. But before I rostered him, the only 1* I kept was Iron Man. Juggernaut is another popular option. Your 1* Storm is probably superfluous, if you're hurting for roster spots.

Still speaking of DDQ, Storm is a powerhouse in the Big Enchilada. There are other characters who do well in it also, but my favored 2* team there was Magneto (2) on the left, Ms. Marvel (2) in the middle and Storm on the right. My 3* power coverage exploded once I hit that team. SirFozzie's got one that seems to be working pretty well for him that uses 2* Black Widow. There are other combinations, but my MMS combo is just fantastic for keeping the board movers stunned in waves 2 and 4.

I guess my question is, should I keep a level 25 2* with 4-5 powers over a level 40 3* with only one power? Or perhaps the better question is which is better, level or powers?

Here's the problem. Well, two problems, actually.

1) PVE events now have a 2* essential node, a 3* essential node, and a 4* essential node. So if you're only keeping a couple 2* around, you either need to keep a roster spot devoted to a revolving door so you can keep the 'needed' 2* on hand at any given time, or you're going to be cheating yourself out of points you need to earn the PVE progression rewards. In that sense, one isn't "better" than the other, but the 2* is important.

2) If you play PVP, your under-covered 3* and 4* are basically going to be lunch for other players, at least once you hit the point that the game promotes you out of the "newbie" brackets. In PVP, covers will absolutely take you further than levels will, because levels mainly affect match damage and the strength of the power in question. Covers will let you do more things. So to that end, the sooner you get a team that can rock it in the Big Enchilada to start earning you covers, the better off you're going to be.

But right now, looking at your roster, your "usable" team in PVP is really limited. You might be able to make your roster work in PVE; the enemies you face won't be all that highly scaled, but they will still have the same powerset to work from even if you're facing level 45 enemies instead of, say, level 102 enemies. They'll just do less damage, but they won't need to do as much damage.

I guess my question for you is, when it comes to roster building, are you in a roster spot crunch? If you aren't, if you have the Hero Points to buy more slots, I would do that and try to add/build out a few more 2*. It's really tough to make the jump directly from 1* to 3*, if only because 3* covers are harder to come by than 2* covers. You need those 2* heroes to help you get a roster that can help you get 3* covers from the various places they're available.

If you ARE in a roster spot crunch, I would drop 1* Storm. I would consider dropping Devil Dino, because his covers are only obtainable during the yearly anniversary and the daily resupply on days 364-366. In other words, it's vanishingly unlikely (unless they shower people with covers in a year's time) that you're ever going to have him in a usable state. That's not to say your other 4* will get covered by tomorrow, but their covers are at least obtainable year-round.

I can't quibble with your selection of 3* heroes. They've all got their place on my roster. The ones I'd focus on, if you can, are 3* Captain America, Daredevil, Deadpool, Luke Cage, and Rocket/Groot. Those guys are rock stars. I like Vision, but he's a support character. Punisher's red at 5 covers is theoretically a bitch and a half but I haven't yet been able to use it to maximum effect. Bullseye is fun if you can pair him with another tile generator, such as Daken or Wolverine. His Lethal Improvisation (which you have!) does some nice damage, and once you have Contract Killer, if you use Lethal Improv to off somebody, the tiles you sacrifice will get replaced with more than you sacrificed in the first place.

Colossus is a fun character, but I've found that he ends up being primarily a black user for me with his Fastball Special. If I pair him with Captain America, Cap is using red for his shield, because the 3* red5 is just devastating. Psylocke is a back-bencher for me.

Vision is up in the Big Enchilada today, offhand. That blue would pair nicely with the red you have, but your 2* aren't developed enough to carry you through the Big Enchilada. I can't stress enough how important getting a good 2* team for the BE is going to be to your 3* roster development. Luke Cage, Rocket/Groot, and Daredevil are coming up in the next week; you're not going to be able to get your 2* built in time for those unless you drop some cash on ISO-8, but by the next time they come up, you should be ready. FWIW my mobile account was able to successfully tackle the Big Enchilada once the Marvel/Magneto/Storm team hit the mid-70s, level-wise.

Don't spend Hero Points on powers or tokens unless you're in the habit of regularly buying Hero Points, in which case knock yourself out. Otherwise, if you're going the F2P route, the biggest ROI for your Hero Points is going to be roster spots. Maybe shields down the line if you become a competitive (both in terms of time input and placement) PVP'er, but otherwise? Roster spots. The more of those you can add, the less of a crunch there is while you build out your roster.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

my favored 2* team there was Magneto (2) on the left, Ms. Marvel (2) in the middle and Storm on the right.

Position (left, middle, right) in the starting lineup matters?

[Umbrella]

Thanks sack, that was really helpful. I am in a bit of a roster pinch right now, and off the top of my head, I don't know what 2* I have on hold. I know I have a few 3* covers (Dr. Doom, She-Hulk, and Magneto), and I think I have multiple covers for 2* Johnny Storm and Hawkeye.

Unfortunately, I think I made a major error and got rid of 2* Magneto and replaced him with 2* Captain America. I had quite a few covers for Captain America which were getting ready to expire, so that was my logic behind it, but in hindsight getting rid of 1* Storm or Devil Dino was probably smarter.

I didn't know you could fight with less than 3. Do you just leave the third spot blank?

[Katon]

If two characters do the same damage with a given color, then positioning's the tiebreaker to determine who attacks with it (and, therefore, who takes the next enemy attack, and whether abilities like OBW's Espionage trigger). The ordering is middle > left > right, so SackAttack's order makes Magneto tank when you match blue instead of the Storm-shaped pile of tissue paper.

[Umbrella]

Dola, and yes, on the rare times I have the required player to even get to the big enchilada, I have never finished it. I got through the third wave before, but haven't gotten through the fourth.

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by Katon

If two characters do the same damage with a given color, then positioning's the tiebreaker to determine who attacks with it (and, therefore, who takes the next enemy attack, and whether abilities like OBW's Espionage trigger). The ordering is middle > left > right, so SackAttack's order makes Magneto tank when you match blue instead of the Storm-shaped pile of tissue paper.

I didn't know that. That is very useful information.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

my favored 2* team there was Magneto (2) on the left, Ms. Marvel (2) in the middle and Storm on the right.

Whohohohoah. I just won BE for the first time with this team!

[Swaggs]

I keep three one-stars with Juggernaut, Spidey, and Iron Man. I'd go with Juggernaut if you drop down to one. You may have to fight the other two or Storm.

For two-stars, I like the Storm, Magneto, Thor team. Primarily go for pinks (Magneto turns them into blues) and blues (Storm kills with the blue). Thor is half tank and is self sustaining with his yellows turning into greens and the green power doing a multiplayer attack. Original BW is a good fourth to pair with them and then Wolverine and Cap are my back ups.

For three stars, grey suit BW has a great multiplayer attack with green and her pink creates green tiles. Mohawk Storm is strong. My Deadpool attack team is typically those two, plus Dare Devil or Spidey (both can freeze people with his blues) or, more recently, Scarlett Witch. I think most of the three stars are pretty fun, once developed. Part of it will be which covers you get -- Hulk comes around fairly often and it seems like Rocket/Groot and Mohawk Storm are, too. I'd look at leveling up a character with a multiplayer attack (I think Greysuit BW with maxed green and pink is a must have), but Black Panther, Beast, and Iron Man are other options and someone else with a power that generates tiles that feed the attack. For GSBW, she creates greens from her pink power and Scarlett Witch (blue auto), Thor (yellow), and Kamala Khan (pink) all create greens.

Obviously, make room for 4- and 5- stars. Nick Fury and Devil Dinosaur (seem to be the most commonly given out).

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

Position (left, middle, right) in the starting lineup matters?

Yep. Mainly for tiebreakers. If you have two characters who have the same damage for a given color, middle > left > right in order of precedence. If you're looking to hide someone who has an amazeballs skill (like Storm's Wind Storm), you want to put him/her on the right.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

Thanks sack, that was really helpful. I am in a bit of a roster pinch right now, and off the top of my head, I don't know what 2* I have on hold. I know I have a few 3* covers (Dr. Doom, She-Hulk, and Magneto), and I think I have multiple covers for 2* Johnny Storm and Hawkeye.

Yeah, I can't see what's in your queue (the covers awaiting rostering/expiration) but I can see the roster you've currently got, which is where my advice came from - the stuff I can see. Doom is the absolute SHIT when you get him covered and leveled. Like, boner-worthy. Dude will fuck shit up. She-Hulk is an acquired taste. She has definite utility but I think she might be a Tier B character. Magneto, like Doom, will ruin your whole day with covers and levels. 2* Hawkeye is pretty situational. His Speed Shot is so much fun when you get it to go off, but unless you can pair him with 2* Magneto or 3* Black Widow, it's tough to get it to go off regularly. 2* Human Torch is a great damage dealer but he's kinda puny on HP. 3* Human Torch is basically 2* on roids. Same powers, just...burnier.

Unfortunately, I think I made a major error and got rid of 2* Magneto and replaced him with 2* Captain America. I had quite a few covers for Captain America which were getting ready to expire, so that was my logic behind it, but in hindsight getting rid of 1* Storm or Devil Dino was probably smarter.

Captain America is a solid 2* to have, but he's slow to get going. Once you get his red and blue shields going, though, they boomerang. You have to make a red match or a blue match while waiting for the countdown to go off to keep them going, but they're the Energizer bunny if you can do that. Cap 3* is like that, too, only wayyyyy more so. There are worse 2* to roster over Magneto, but you're going to want Magneto back sooner rather than later. Now you know who to drop to make that happen, though.

I didn't know you could fight with less than 3. Do you just leave the third spot blank?

In any given fight, you can fight with fewer than 3 characters, but in practice that happens only when there are restrictions. Say there's a Heroic going on but you only have two characters who are 'active' for a given sub. Welp. You're fighting with two characters. You can't say "I'm taking Luke Cage and that's it." If you *can* field more than 1 (or 2) characters for a fight, you have to.

But in the 1* DDQ, if you only HAVE one 1*...that's what you go to war with.

Originally Posted by Katon

If two characters do the same damage with a given color, then positioning's the tiebreaker to determine who attacks with it (and, therefore, who takes the next enemy attack, and whether abilities like OBW's Espionage trigger). The ordering is middle > left > right, so SackAttack's order makes Magneto tank when you match blue instead of the Storm-shaped pile of tissue paper.

Yep. If one of the two has to fall, I'd much rather lose Magneto than Storm. Magneto's red is tasty and his purple feeds Storm's blue, but Storm's blue is what makes my 2* DDQ team viable.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

Dola, and yes, on the rare times I have the required player to even get to the big enchilada, I have never finished it. I got through the third wave before, but haven't gotten through the fourth.

That's where Storm (or an AP-stealer like OBW) are super-useful. You want to prevent the board-movers in the 2nd and 4th waves from getting their skills off. The way I do that is collect the shit out of red, pink and blue AP in wave 1 and wave 3, end waves 1/3 on a power use (like Lightning Storm) and then unleashing hell with Wind Storm and Polarity Shift to stun the board-movers before they can do anything in waves 2/4. Then I can pick them off at my leisure. OBW can help with that, too, by stealing AP and preventing the board movers from using their powers, but they can still do match damage.

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

Whohohohoah. I just won BE for the first time with this team!

Ain't it a beaut of a team? Before daedalus (long-time FOFCers will recognize that name) introduced me to it, I occasionally got BE wins with Hawkeye (2), Magneto (2) and maybe one of my 3*, but it wasn't consistent at all. Once I started running with Magneto/Ms. Marvel/Storm at 70+, I haven't *lost* a BE. Unless Ninja Bullshit is going on, but even that I can overcome on a second attempt.

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I keep three one-stars with Juggernaut, Spidey, and Iron Man. I'd go with Juggernaut if you drop down to one. You may have to fight the other two or Storm.

Spidey has a 2* variant who can lock you out of the 1* fight, but Iron Man doesn't. I've never had to fight Iron Man in the 1* fight. Juggernaut, Iron Man, Venom and Yelena Belova are the 1* who don't have 2* equivalents to block you.

For three stars, grey suit BW has a great multiplayer attack with green and her pink creates green tiles. Mohawk Storm is strong. My Deadpool attack team is typically those two, plus Dare Devil or Spidey (both can freeze people with his blues) or, more recently, Scarlett Witch.

1* Spidey has a really nice blend of powers. Drop a blue to stun, which buffs red damage. Drop another blue to stun after you use the red, then drop his pink. Crit. Tiles. Everywhere.

I think most of the three stars are pretty fun, once developed. Part of it will be which covers you get -- Hulk comes around fairly often and it seems like Rocket/Groot and Mohawk Storm are, too. I'd look at leveling up a character with a multiplayer attack (I think Greysuit BW with maxed green and pink is a must have), but Black Panther, Beast, and Iron Man are other options and someone else with a power that generates tiles that feed the attack. For GSBW, she creates greens from her pink power and Scarlett Witch (blue auto), Thor (yellow), and Kamala Khan (pink) all create greens.

Which covers you get, which build you pursue, yeah. Hulk, I cannot stress enough, you either want *four* black covers, or else a healer like Kamala Khan who can repair the damage that Anger does otherwise. GSBW with maxed green and pink is an unholy terror. That woman is like a buffed version of what 2* Magneto used to be. He used to drop, I think, 4 or 5 blues with his Polarity Shift. At max pink, GSBW reliably creates 2 and often even 3 critical tiles for me. I have yet to find a build on 3* Iron Man that compels me to use that character when he's not essential.

Obviously, make room for 4- and 5- stars. Nick Fury and Devil Dinosaur (seem to be the most commonly given out).

Hold off on 5* for a while. They're working on a fix for scaling for lower level rosters like yours, but there wasn't supposed to be an issue with that in the first place. But, yeah, long-term, you want room for 4*. Just don't roster them at the expense of characters you can actually build unless you're willing to spend on roster slots (or are the sort who buys 10x/40x token packs to build your 4*).

[BrianD]

This game is a nightmare for cheap people with completionist tendencies. I've been playing long enough to have 66 filled roster spots and it is killing me that I can't afford the other 18 yet. New characters come out faster than I can earn enough tokens to up the roster.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by BrianD

This game is a nightmare for cheap people with completionist tendencies. I've been playing long enough to have 66 filled roster spots and it is killing me that I can't afford the other 18 yet. New characters come out faster than I can earn enough tokens to up the roster.

What helps for me is that there is a lot of crossover between the tiers. I have 66 characters as well, but I don't need three Black Widows.

Also I can scratch the completionist itch with the console version of MPQ, so that ALSO helps.

[Umbrella]

Thanks for the advice Sack. I still haven't beaten the BE yet, but I did get a couple of tacos, and got some great pulls from them. Got my 2nd Thing cover, 2nd Rocket and Groot, and 2nd Dr. Doom (although this wasn't from a taco, it was from the end of PvE), which forced me to drop Johnny Storm and add Doom.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

Thanks for the advice Sack. I still haven't beaten the BE yet, but I did get a couple of tacos, and got some great pulls from them. Got my 2nd Thing cover, 2nd Rocket and Groot, and 2nd Dr. Doom (although this wasn't from a taco, it was from the end of PvE), which forced me to drop Johnny Storm and add Doom.

Groot is great. Johnny Storm is just fun to have around, but especially if it's his 3* variant.

You're probably not GOING to beat the BE until you have a team of 2* (there are a few good options, but Marvel/Magneto/Storm is my preferred as mentioned) in the mid 70s at least.

Thing about tacos: if you're not willing to spend on Hero Points now and again, you probably don't want to open tacos piecemeal like that, because you end up cannibalizing your 2* (which are really who's going to be usable for you right now in feeding your progression) for 3* covers that it's going to be a while before you really get going on.

What I would do, if you're not willing to spend $5 here and there for Hero Points for roster slots, is hoard your tacos until you have 10-15 of either sweet or savory at any given moment. That way, when you open them, you have a shot at not only getting the covers you want, but also getting Hero Points from the vault so you can roster new characters you get.

[AnalBumCover]

Piecing Together Marvel Puzzle Quest: Champion Levels | News | Marvel.com

[SackAttack]

Obviously depends on implementation and such but I'm a fan. I'll be able to champion my 2* to get a taste for how it works (and to lessen the aggravation of getting 2* in the Deadpool Tacos all the damn time). It's gonna be a while yet before my 3* can even think about getting championed, despite being basically all 13 covers. I mean, if the scaling fix they keep talking about comes, then I'd consider goosing someone from 125 to 166 in one shot.

But for the moment I'm leveling my 3* team 5 levels at a time across the board, and that's a slower march.

[Umbrella]

For those of you that have champions, I have a question. I bit the bullet and championed Classic Storm (2*). I was looking down the list of rewards you get for leveling up, and I noticed quite a few Mohawk Storm covers in there. Am I getting these because I chose Storm? In other words, if I had done Thor, would I be seeing Modern Thor covers instead?

I might have jumped the gun on this a little, since I am still firmly in the transition from 2* to 3*, but it sure seems like I get a lot of Storm or Moonstone covers. I probably get more Moonstone, but I like using Storm, other than she seems pretty squishy. I'm hoping this will buff her up a little so I can fire her awesome powers more often.

[Katon]

Yes, Thor would give Modern Thor. Each 2* character gives a particular 3* as a reward, and if there's a 3* version of the same hero that's always who they choose (and similarly for 3*->4*).

[Umbrella]

That is really good to know. That would also be a way for me to get more covers for my 3* Captain America, since my 2* is already maxed out.

Who would the equivalent be for Moonstone? Captain Marvel maybe?

[Katon]

Official forums say Moonstone gives Hulk, which is not what I'd have guessed beforehand.

[Umbrella]

And of course, Murphy's Law strikes. I got an additional Moonstone cover today. Oh well, I need more Hulk Anger covers, so she'll be the next one I champion.

[dunkem]

Been lurking here reading the thread. I'm addicted to this game. Was wondering if I could join T.R.O.U.T. Been doing fairly well in versus modes I guess until those sets of level 70 types start pounding me.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by dunkem

Been lurking here reading the thread. I'm addicted to this game. Was wondering if I could join T.R.O.U.T. Been doing fairly well in versus modes I guess until those sets of level 70 types start pounding me.

Looks like there's a spot available.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by dunkem

Been lurking here reading the thread. I'm addicted to this game. Was wondering if I could join T.R.O.U.T. Been doing fairly well in versus modes I guess until those sets of level 70 types start pounding me.

There's a spot open. All you gotta do is search for T.R.O.U.T. and send a request. Post your in-game name in this thread if it's different so we know it's you, and I'll approve it. Unless one of the other commanders gets to it first!

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

For those of you that have champions, I have a question. I bit the bullet and championed Classic Storm (2*). I was looking down the list of rewards you get for leveling up, and I noticed quite a few Mohawk Storm covers in there. Am I getting these because I chose Storm? In other words, if I had done Thor, would I be seeing Modern Thor covers instead?

Because there are 2* and 3* of both of those characters, yes. Same for Human Torch - he has a 3* equivalent, so he yields Torch (3) covers. Nearly all of the 2* characters have 3* equivalents, so Moonstone (Hulk) and Ares (Ragnarok) are the only 2* who reward 3* covers of a different character.

3* champions are a bit different since they mostly don't have equivalents at higher tiers. I've championed Groot, Captain America, Black Panther and Scarlet Witch so far. None of those folks have a 4* equivalent. Groot will give me Star-Lord covers, Captain America will give me Captain Falcon (okay, I guess that's "kind of" a 4* equivalent even if it isn't the same guy) covers, Black Panther will give me Mr. Fantastic and Scarlet Witch will give me Professor X.

I might have jumped the gun on this a little, since I am still firmly in the transition from 2* to 3*, but it sure seems like I get a lot of Storm or Moonstone covers. I probably get more Moonstone, but I like using Storm, other than she seems pretty squishy. I'm hoping this will buff her up a little so I can fire her awesome powers more often.

It does help. She's already over 2k on Wind Storm for me at level 104. There's really no downside to championing your 2* right now, because you'll get the same ISO for granting them champion levels as you would have gotten from selling the covers. It's ISO-neutral, but you get other rewards along the way, and they get stronger to boot.

You maybe want to be careful not to level a 2* champion too far above where your 3* are at, but that's a matter of personal taste.

[dunkem]

Holy smokies... not sure you want a pee on like me in your bunnch. I'm nowhere near 50 much less triple digit level. My name is the same under dunkem.

I'm assuming this game scales according to your level of competition since I've gotten into the top ten a twenty a few times and I've never seen triple digit levels. Total newbie at this game.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

You maybe want to be careful not to level a 2* champion too far above where your 3* are at, but that's a matter of personal taste.

Being mindful of the scaling concerns of the game, I've been leveling my 3* on par with my 2* champions. If I get a cover to level my 2* champion, I'll also bump up my 3*s to the same level. I'll probably continue to do this until I have a pretty solid team or two of 3* that can hold their own.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by dunkem

Holy smokies... not sure you want a pee on like me in your bunnch. I'm nowhere near 50 much less triple digit level. My name is the same under dunkem.

You are absolutely welcome, but we have no ability to extend an invite; you need to go under the alliance tab, search for T.R.O.U.T. under the private alliances, and apply.

I'm assuming this game scales according to your level of competition since I've gotten into the top ten a twenty a few times and I've never seen triple digit levels. Total newbie at this game.

Yeah, it scales to your roster, and it also uses brackets - the bracket you get placed into for ranking purposes is based on how regularly you play. If you're playing every event and doing your PVE "clears" 3x/day, you'll eventually get placed into brackets with the big kids. If you're new, or play casually, the level of your competition for placement rewards reflects that.

The difference has nothing to do with your ability to be a productive member of an alliance; it'll be about getting placed in a bracket with people who have the rosters to be able to play all three of the essential nodes in each sub, where you may or may not be able to do that regularly, and what the point differential there does to your placement.

[dunkem]

Thanks for the alliance approval! Well, that sucks... if I play too often, I'm gonna get slotted into the higher levels. Being that I'm a relative hoarder with my characters, hopefully that doesn't impact my competition level. I try to play lightning rounds and each event to pick up stuff since I was getting tired of claiming 20 ISO in Prologue.

Guess I should finish prologue up first..... but I was getting tired of soldiers crushing me without sufficient board clearers like Storm. Computer AI is way more stupid with its actual characters instead of random soldier explosions it seems... thus the early success in versus modes.

I'm probably seeing some stronger competition lately due to my activity. I'm guessing some of my lineups in versus modes start losing more often when I go back to do "lower levels" since it seems like the lineup that's being used for me is always reset to whatever I was using recently.

Sorry for the newbie stuff. What's the recommendation in the beginning? Level a lot of guys up and be more well rounded or focus on a few guys? Since the completionist/hoarder in me wants to keep everyone, I've got a lot of guys with a lot of strategies, but they all end up being relatively low level.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by dunkem

Thanks for the alliance approval! Well, that sucks... if I play too often, I'm gonna get slotted into the higher levels. Being that I'm a relative hoarder with my characters, hopefully that doesn't impact my competition level. I try to play lightning rounds and each event to pick up stuff since I was getting tired of claiming 20 ISO in Prologue.

Should probably clarify. In PVE, competition level means you're playing against people who are aggressively chasing placement rewards. It doesn't impact the strength of the fights available to you. It means that to finish top 10 or top 20 requires more work because you're in brackets with regular players as opposed to casual players.

Originally Posted by dunkem

Guess I should finish prologue up first..... but I was getting tired of soldiers crushing me without sufficient board clearers like Storm. Computer AI is way more stupid with its actual characters instead of random soldier explosions it seems... thus the early success in versus modes.

Prologue is useful mainly for the rewards if you're still in early-game. Covers for your 2* characters, Hero Points (you should be focusing on roster spots with HP, not tokens), ISO...you don't have to have finished it to be able to move on to events, but by the time you're strong enough to deal with whatever Prologue throws at you, you're strong enough to deal with PVE as well.

Originally Posted by dunkem

I'm probably seeing some stronger competition lately due to my activity. I'm guessing some of my lineups in versus modes start losing more often when I go back to do "lower levels" since it seems like the lineup that's being used for me is always reset to whatever I was using recently.

Well, sort of, yeah. Scaling differs between PVE and PVP; in PVE, it's largely a function (at this time) of two things:

1) the average of your top 3 or 5 (I forget which it is) character levels and
2) your success. That is, how much damage are you taking? If you're bringing level 120 characters against level 33 goons, the 3 harder fights in each sub are going to scale up to reflect that and give you more of a challenge. If you're getting waxed with regularity, it should scale down to reflect that.

In PVP, I don't have a good handle on how the matchmaking system works; I know your roster strength is tied on some level to what teams you see past the seed teams, which is why if you have a 5* character rostered, you're going to be seeing 4* teams after your first 3-6 fights in any given PVP, as an example. The game sees that 5* and assumes your roster is on par with grown-up 4* rosters.

Now, that said, they're going to be changing how scaling and MMR work for PVE and PVP, with a test beginning next week, so that information may have limited utility for you.

Originally Posted by dunkem

Sorry for the newbie stuff. What's the recommendation in the beginning? Level a lot of guys up and be more well rounded or focus on a few guys? Since the completionist/hoarder in me wants to keep everyone, I've got a lot of guys with a lot of strategies, but they all end up being relatively low level.

Depends on how you focus your play, I think. I'm primarily a PVE'er who dips his toes in the PVP waters every now and again. Until the Champion feature got introduced, I was leveling everybody equally to keep my PVE scaling from going shitballs. Since that feature's introduction, I've leveled four of my 3* to 166 so I can start feeding them champion levels, with the rest down at 125-130.

If you're primarily a PVP player, it might behoove you to, in the long term, prioritize a few strong characters for leveling and level the others as they have weeks where they're boosted characters, etc.

I took a middle path. As I said above, I was leveling equally for a while, and I played PVP about every other season so that I'd be in brackets more my speed instead of grouped with the hardcore PVPers. That way PVE was still playable but I didn't need to have a maxed roster to reach my PVP goals.

[dunkem]

Thanks for the info. I got quite a few 3 stars waiting to be claimed until I can open up slots. Pretty much rostering them when I'm almost out of time. I know I'll have to make some cuts soon though.

While I know some people like Juggernaut because of his quick green clear, I don't know if I want to keep him around. Whenever I have to give up half my hit points to damage, I'm not sure if it fits in my strategy. Guys like Ares, I'm contemplating selling off because it's give up something to do something. Just a good finisher I guess.

So PVE is Story mode and PVP is Versus mode right? I barely earn the taco in deadpool with all the soldiers and even that requires my one star powered up Storm and Thor combo to feed each other. I have classic 2 star, but she's not powered and level up enough to be efficient at this point. I guess when 2 star classic storm is powered and leveled, I might be able to sell off the 1 star Modern Storm. Black Widow 1 star is pretty much doing all the stunning in my strategy until I can get 2 star Storm up. Haven't even tried anything else in Story mode.

In PVP, I assume the 3 heroes that are chosen against other players is the one that I last used at ANY point in the game because when I go out, do a prologue round and come back, I'm usually hit with a set of losses in SHIELD with my roster not being as I last left it in SHIELD.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by dunkem

Thanks for the info. I got quite a few 3 stars waiting to be claimed until I can open up slots. Pretty much rostering them when I'm almost out of time. I know I'll have to make some cuts soon though.

Unless you're willing to spend some money here and there, "gotta catch 'em all" is difficult. I know for me, there were some 3* who were on and off and on and off and on and off my roster multiple times because they just weren't priorities. I didn't like the build, or the cover I was starting with was less useful than a cover I got of another hero, etc.

I eventually got rid of all but two 1* because once you get past the prologue, they aren't required for anything but the 1* DDQ fight (and a level 50 1* can solo that fight).

Originally Posted by dunkem

While I know some people like Juggernaut because of his quick green clear, I don't know if I want to keep him around. Whenever I have to give up half my hit points to damage, I'm not sure if it fits in my strategy. Guys like Ares, I'm contemplating selling off because it's give up something to do something. Just a good finisher I guess.

Ares at level 94? His green HURTS. Wait 'til you fight boosted Ares in a PVE event. You'll curse his name. Onslaught makes with the ouch. He was a mainstay of my team when I was in the 2* phase of the game. I still break him out when I do the 2*-only fights in DDQ, and when he's boosted in PVE, but he's not a member of my top squad anymore.

Originally Posted by dunkem

So PVE is Story mode and PVP is Versus mode right? I barely earn the taco in deadpool with all the soldiers and even that requires my one star powered up Storm and Thor combo to feed each other. I have classic 2 star, but she's not powered and level up enough to be efficient at this point. I guess when 2 star classic storm is powered and leveled, I might be able to sell off the 1 star Modern Storm. Black Widow 1 star is pretty much doing all the stunning in my strategy until I can get 2 star Storm up. Haven't even tried anything else in Story mode.

PVE is Story, PVP is versus, yes. A word of advice on wave fights (in DDQ and elsewhere) - try to end a goon wave with a power. That gives you control of the board in the next round when the board mover comes up. So in that taco fight? Try a team of Magneto/Thor/Storm (if you have them). Let Thor have greens, since his Call the Storm will fuck shit up. Use Magneto's Magnetic Flux to charge up Storm's Wind Storm. End the first wave with either Mjolnir's Might or Thor's yellow, and then drop Wind Storm on the board mover in the second wave to give you a free move or three to grab AP while the AI can't make matches. Bonus: Wind Storm is AOE, which means you could find yourself facing a stunned board mover and the single backup goon because you've already killed off the other two.

Originally Posted by dunkem

In PVP, I assume the 3 heroes that are chosen against other players is the one that I last used at ANY point in the game because when I go out, do a prologue round and come back, I'm usually hit with a set of losses in SHIELD with my roster not being as I last left it in SHIELD.

That is correct. Your defensive team in PVP is the team you last won any fight with. You may consider doing your non-PVP fights with the team you want on defense in PVP, or else saving your PVP fights until you're done with prologue/story in a given session.

[dunkem]

Awesome advice Sack. Guess once I'm powered up, I'll be able to use the hero combinations more effectively. Thor, Magneto, and Storm don't have enough cards on them yet for me.

Looks Daken is up on my cut list to make room... more of a nuisance character than anything it seems. Better to cut em early and sell the cards instead of absorbing them and wasting the ISO I'm thinking.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by dunkem

Awesome advice Sack. Guess once I'm powered up, I'll be able to use the hero combinations more effectively. Thor, Magneto, and Storm don't have enough cards on them yet for me.

Looks Daken is up on my cut list to make room... more of a nuisance character than anything it seems. Better to cut em early and sell the cards instead of absorbing them and wasting the ISO I'm thinking.

I felt the same way about the 2* Daken (which is why I don't have him) but the 3* variant I actually find to be pretty useful.

Thor, Storm and Magneto should all have covers available in the prologue if you haven't farmed that completely out yet (and beginning today there's no longer a 20-ISO booby prize when trying to farm the rewards, so that's nice; you just pull them until they're gone).

The taco vault is also about 2/3 2*, so if you're diligent about collecting your taco (plural once you start reliably having a 3* to bring to the required fight), you'll cover those in short order.

Mmm, play lightning rounds. That'll help with ISO and you can also get 2* cover drops from there.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Resupply - Marvel Puzzle Quest Wiki - Wikia

Keep an eye on that page as you progress. There's a Thor cover in the first two weeks (you may be past that by now) and four recruit tokens (guaranteed 2* minimum) in the first 31 days.

As your roster progresses, you may find yourself making decisions about whether to keep or sell 3* and 4* characters; knowing what's coming down the daily pipe can help with that. I sold off a 4* She-Thor cover a while ago because, well, I only had the one cover. Then she popped up in my daily rewards, I got a couple of her covers from Legendary Tokens, and the She-Thor I have now has four covers. If I had kept the one I sold off, I'd have 5.

So now I keep an eye on what daily rewards are coming when I'm debating whether to keep a character rostered.

[Umbrella]

I guess I'm in the minority. I really like my level 94 2* Daken. On the wave rounds, his greens feed Thor while placing strike tiles, and then if a timed tile is about to go off, I use him to make a match, letting him take the damage, which will heal over time. Although it is pretty frustrating if you get too short on blue tiles, as you watch him fade away to nothing.

My current big enchilada lineup is Thor, Moonstone, and Daken. I have coverage of all colors, Moonstone is good at keeping the timers from firing with her pink power, and her black power keeps maggia and ninjas somewhat under control. Nothing more satisfying then letting a muscle fire off a couple threatens, and taking them away, and then one shot killing the fourth wave members with Thor's green.

[dunkem]

I just got hit with a Daken wave .. and yeah, when he gets going, he really messes you up especially if you have a green primary and you need to clear his attack tiles at the same time. I tried to ignore the attack tiles, he hits a lucky blue spot and kaboom... lets loose on three or four of em. Problem is at the lower levels I think... his blue thirst kills you like you mentioned, but at a faster rate since the without being powered up, the mininum blue tile is higher.

Decisions decisions...

Even Moonstone is on my potential cut list, but her swap out for those countdown tiles is pretty useful. Black power without attack tile opponents is kind of a waste sometimes. Yet again, without being powered up, she's kind of a specialist to me just starting out.

All these single power 3 stars are piling up for me... and they're all useless until I can get more cards for them. Gah!! Wish they didn't have a time deadline.. and at 200+ hero points no way to get another roster slot in time without forking over $$.

[Umbrella]

You're in the same spot I was in not too long ago. Sack gave me good advice, and that is to focus on getting my 2* lineup stronger. Once I got Iron Man up to level 50, he's the only 1* I kept. He can win the first level of DDQ by himself.

Getting tacos from the second level of DDQ usually gets you 2* covers. This is where you can really build it up. The later stages of the Prologue can help get more 2* covers. Get those guys strong, and you will be able to breeze through the first three levels of DDQ. Sack is much more of an expert than I am, but Thor and Storm are both really good, and it's easy to get their covers. I really like 2* Black Widow. Her blue power is awesome against the waves, and sometimes I use her instead of Daken in BE. Moonstone is good for BE, but terrible in PvP. The computer doesn't use her well, and if her black power isn't maxed out, she's not that great.

From there, I had to drop some money to open up roster spots for my 3* players. That's a choice you'll have to make. If you have limited space, I would focus on improving my 2* for now. Then you can figure out who you like, and who you don't, and swap them out for the 3*.

I'm still at the point where I'm building up my 3* characters. None of them are maxed out yet, but I think I have about five maxed out 2* characters. Those guys can get me through DDQ pretty well, and BE gets me more 3* covers.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

I guess I'm in the minority. I really like my level 94 2* Daken. On the wave rounds, his greens feed Thor while placing strike tiles, and then if a timed tile is about to go off, I use him to make a match, letting him take the damage, which will heal over time. Although it is pretty frustrating if you get too short on blue tiles, as you watch him fade away to nothing.

And it's an issue 3* Daken shares; 2* Daken does more healing, which is nice. But 3* Daken creates two strike tiles with green matches at that skill's max covers, which a) gets you to max damage with his blue faster and b) leaves some behind even after a conversion, potentially. Which is big. It's not that I don't like 2* Daken as much as I like 3* Daken *more.* And he's not a character I like enough to have two of on my roster, even though the 2* one will occasionally be essential.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

My current big enchilada lineup is Thor, Moonstone, and Daken. I have coverage of all colors, Moonstone is good at keeping the timers from firing with her pink power, and her black power keeps maggia and ninjas somewhat under control. Nothing more satisfying then letting a muscle fire off a couple threatens, and taking them away, and then one shot killing the fourth wave members with Thor's green.

Moonstone's tile steal used to be amazing before they rebalanced her. Less amazing these days, but still useful.

Originally Posted by dunkem

I just got hit with a Daken wave .. and yeah, when he gets going, he really messes you up especially if you have a green primary and you need to clear his attack tiles at the same time. I tried to ignore the attack tiles, he hits a lucky blue spot and kaboom... lets loose on three or four of em. Problem is at the lower levels I think... his blue thirst kills you like you mentioned, but at a faster rate since the without being powered up, the mininum blue tile is higher.

Decisions decisions...

Even Moonstone is on my potential cut list, but her swap out for those countdown tiles is pretty useful. Black power without attack tile opponents is kind of a waste sometimes. Yet again, without being powered up, she's kind of a specialist to me just starting out.

I'm actually finally building a Moonstone. Her power set isn't super great, but her red can melt your face if there are enough red tiles on the board, and her health pool as she grows is just bonkers. At level 144 (94+champion levels), she has over 10k health. It's absurd. That would be useful for a 2* PVP'er just to throw in the team to discourage people from attacking, since the longer you're in a fight, the more opportunities there are for other people to hit you.

Originally Posted by dunkem

All these single power 3 stars are piling up for me... and they're all useless until I can get more cards for them. Gah!! Wish they didn't have a time deadline.. and at 200+ hero points no way to get another roster slot in time without forking over $$.

Sometimes you get lucky and pull a taco with 250 or 1000 hero points from DDQ. I've had that save the day a couple times. Again, take a look at the daily rewards, see what's coming up for you. See if any of the 3* covers in your queue have additional covers dropping. That might help you winnow the field. If you haven't cleared the prologue yet, get your ass back in there and clear the rewards. There be hero points in them thar nodes.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

You're in the same spot I was in not too long ago. Sack gave me good advice, and that is to focus on getting my 2* lineup stronger. Once I got Iron Man up to level 50, he's the only 1* I kept. He can win the first level of DDQ by himself.

Pretty much any 1* at max level can win That Guy by themselves, but where Iron Man shines is that he has no 2* variant (ditto Juggernaut and Venom), so he can't be locked out of that fight. If you decided to roll with Hawkeye as your only 1*, or Storm as your only 1*, there would be days you couldn't get that 500 ISO (and eventually, the 2000 ISO bonus for completing all five nodes). He was the only 1* I kept for a long time, but I bought a roster spot for 1* Spider-Man when they released him, because...he's actually pretty friggin' cool for a 1*. If 3* Spidey had 1* Spidey's powerset, I think he'd be a mainstay of my 3* team.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

Getting tacos from the second level of DDQ usually gets you 2* covers. This is where you can really build it up. The later stages of the Prologue can help get more 2* covers. Get those guys strong, and you will be able to breeze through the first three levels of DDQ.

Lightning rounds and S.H.I.E.L.D. simulator will drop 2* covers on occasion when you win fights as well. So does regular PVP, but I see it most often in those two sub-types.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

Sack is much more of an expert than I am

Dunno about "expert," but my ego thanks you for the kind words.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

but Thor and Storm are both really good, and it's easy to get their covers. I really like 2* Black Widow. Her blue power is awesome against the waves, and sometimes I use her instead of Daken in BE. Moonstone is good for BE, but terrible in PvP. The computer doesn't use her well, and if her black power isn't maxed out, she's not that great.

Storm is still a mainstay of my DDQ team (currently Magneto/Cyclops/Storm, from left to right). She's got several champion levels, and she's at the point where in the Big Enchilada (BE), she can often stun two and kill one in a character wave with two uses of Wind Storm. Not always - the She-Thor/Sentry/Black Panther wave that pops up sometimes is kinda beefy - but more than you'd expect from a 2* character. I managed to clear the BE once or twice with Magneto/Hawkeye doing work (Magneto using Polarity Shift to trigger Hawkeye (2)'s Speed Shot) but I didn't start clearing the BE with regularity until I had a grown-up Storm (2). Thor's great, but he's slower, since his yellow and green are 12 and 14 AP powers, respectively, and Storm's AP generator eats green, so it's tough to use her as a battery for Thor if he's gonna Call the Storm.

OBW (2* Widow) is so annoying to face that I rostered and built her just so I could unleash the annoyance on the AI every once in a while. Heh. Captain America is pretty great in a 3/5/5 build, especially once you get enough red and blue AP to get his shields going. Then the man's a machine.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

From there, I had to drop some money to open up roster spots for my 3* players. That's a choice you'll have to make. If you have limited space, I would focus on improving my 2* for now. Then you can figure out who you like, and who you don't, and swap them out for the 3*.

Hero Points will also drop randomly in the daily rewards in addition to the scheduled Hero Points drops. So, I mean, you're not going to be able to roster every cover you win/open the second you get it without spending some money, but if you're patient (and a little bit lucky) you can absolutely get those spots without spending real dough. Perspective: my mobile account, the one that runs S.Q.U.I.D., is on day 360. Never spent a penny. 48 roster spots. My T.R.O.U.T. account has 72 roster spots on day 558, and HAS spent money. About 200 days' difference, and my mobile account is just 24 roster spots behind. I very much doubt my mobile account will be in the 70s in 200 days, but it's not exactly a gimped roster, either.

Though, to be fair, my mobile account also has a ton of 1-2 cover 4* because I was using it for a while to send myself team-ups of 4* characters my big boy roster doesn't/didn't have. :-D If I were to take my own advice on mobile (if I were playing it as seriously as I do PC), I'd probably drop some of those 4* to make room for 3* so I can transition more easily.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

I'm still at the point where I'm building up my 3* characters. None of them are maxed out yet, but I think I have about five maxed out 2* characters. Those guys can get me through DDQ pretty well, and BE gets me more 3* covers.

Yeah, you really only need three maxed out 2* for the BE to start accelerating your 3* growth, if it's the "right" 2*. There are several viable teams for the BE, but you need your resource input in your 2* to be in characters who work well together. For the longest time, that was Magneto/Captain Marvel/Storm when my 3* were still growing up. Now all but, like, 3 of my 3* (I have 39 of the 40) are at 13 covers, and I think all of my 3* are at at least 10 covers, so while I still roll with Magneto and Storm in the BE, I've stepped up from Captain Marvel to 3* Cyclops - same color coverage, but he brings the pain train.

Captain Marvel is really useful because her yellow can erase strike/attack tiles on Ninja Bullshit Day. Cyclops can't do that, so you have to survive wave 1 before you can really crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women. But oh, that lamentation.

[dunkem]

I'm loving 2 star Widow as well even at the low 2/1/0.. just limited in hit points and no auto steal Espionage yet. I know she'll be good when I can get her up just to screw up the other team.

I ended up throwing Venom away since he's forever coming up with standard tokens and I can always re-roster him.

Yeah, it's good advice to up the 2*. Just hate to say goodbye to the 1* I maxed out like Modern Widow 1* or Hawkeye who's saved me a bunch on goon waves sometimes with his pink critical Now that I have a Mohawk 3* Storm, she could eventually replace 1* storm I've been using.

I've also been using your advice, Sack, with Magneto and 2* storm along with Thor. Been working out fairly well. Just gotta nail more cards for them.

I really like 1* spidey too, but damn those criticals never pop up where they're supposed to.... it's almost like the game chooses to put them in corners with no matches.

Captain Marvel... that strategic command is an underestimated power sometimes. Almost like an opposite Storm... man, when that thing connects at max power (I've been a victim a few times), it sucks.

The Balance of Power PVP that's going on is pretty cool because everybody's levels are maxed out and you can truly see what your characters can do on an even playing field.

Been playing PVE some lately and it's also nice because you can "play" with some of the higher level characters. Deadpool, Human Torch, and x-23 (haven't read comics lately... female wolverine?!?!)... pretty brutal... wish I had them on my real roster!

Well, we're getting there I guess. Now that 20 ISO is gone, I've been able to clear that cupboard pretty much. Just gotta keep cashing those Iron Man cards for ISO and level up!

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by dunkem

I'm loving 2 star Widow as well even at the low 2/1/0.. just limited in hit points and no auto steal Espionage yet.

IMO, Espionage is the weakest of her abilities. Depending on who she's paired with, it may never fire. For me, it usually only fires when I match black, which is useless for her. I'm at 4/4/4 right now, so I'm looking for that last cover, then she'll be championed. The other cool thing about champions, in case you don't know, is that you can re-arrange their covers however you like. So if my last cover for her is black, I can champion her, and then make her a 5/5/3. I'm a big fan of hers.

As an aside, I had a productive DDQ this morning. First taco pulled 2* Storm, so I got my first champion level with her. The bonus heroic cover pulled a Deadpool red for me. Second taco got an additional 2* Storm cover, and then since Deadpool was the required character, I got another red cover for him. Two champion levels and two Deadpool reds, along with the ISO.

[Umbrella]

The other thing I just realized the other day, and I don't know why it took so long to figure this out, is Captain America can select enemy countdown tiles for his red and blue abilities. That makes him a really good candidate for BE. He takes a while to get going, but in the BE, you have lots of time. Once he starts firing, he is pretty good. He's got a lot of hit points, so he can survive a while. If you can match a lot of blues in the first wave, he can keep the enemy in pretty much a permanent stun state. He's another candidate for champion, so I can hopefully start building up my 3* version quicker.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by dunkem

Been playing PVE some lately and it's also nice because you can "play" with some of the higher level characters. Deadpool, Human Torch, and x-23 (haven't read comics lately... female wolverine?!?!)... pretty brutal... wish I had them on my real roster!

Well, we're getting there I guess. Now that 20 ISO is gone, I've been able to clear that cupboard pretty much. Just gotta keep cashing those Iron Man cards for ISO and level up!

X-23 is a clone of Logan. With bewbs.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

IMO, Espionage is the weakest of her abilities. Depending on who she's paired with, it may never fire. For me, it usually only fires when I match black, which is useless for her. I'm at 4/4/4 right now, so I'm looking for that last cover, then she'll be championed. The other cool thing about champions, in case you don't know, is that you can re-arrange their covers however you like. So if my last cover for her is black, I can champion her, and then make her a 5/5/3. I'm a big fan of hers.

Not just with whom she's paired, but also positioning (left, center, right). That matters because positioning breaks ties on match damage, and the tiles are assigned to characters based on who has the most match damage. So if you have a character who has the same match damage as OBW in one or more of her colors, but they're in higher priority position (center > left > right), she won't "carry" that color.

As an aside, I had a productive DDQ this morning. First taco pulled 2* Storm, so I got my first champion level with her. The bonus heroic cover pulled a Deadpool red for me. Second taco got an additional 2* Storm cover, and then since Deadpool was the required character, I got another red cover for him. Two champion levels and two Deadpool reds, along with the ISO.

Days like that are the best. 5 red and 5 pink = musts for Deadpool IMO.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

The other thing I just realized the other day, and I don't know why it took so long to figure this out, is Captain America can select enemy countdown tiles for his red and blue abilities. That makes him a really good candidate for BE. He takes a while to get going, but in the BE, you have lots of time. Once he starts firing, he is pretty good. He's got a lot of hit points, so he can survive a while. If you can match a lot of blues in the first wave, he can keep the enemy in pretty much a permanent stun state. He's another candidate for champion, so I can hopefully start building up my 3* version quicker.

Yeah. His shields erase shit, keep enemies stunned, and bring the hurts. I championed him as quickly as I could. :-D

[Toddzilla]

just so I understand, instead of going after big 3 and 4 star characters, building up your 1 and 2 star characters is more beneficial?

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

just so I understand, instead of going after big 3 and 4 star characters, building up your 1 and 2 star characters is more beneficial?

It depends. If you are willing to drop some $$, then it doesn't matter, because you can do both with the extra roster spots. But if you are only going to use the free hero points you acquire, then you have to be a little more careful.

Here's a good guide someone wrote up on the official forums. It's got some good points, even if I don't agree 100% with everything on there.

D3 Go! Forums • View topic - Polarity's Guide on Going From 1* to 3* (Updated: 1/22/15)

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

just so I understand, instead of going after big 3 and 4 star characters, building up your 1 and 2 star characters is more beneficial?

Your time spent in 1* land should be short because you start getting 2* covers with a quickness in Prologue. You *want* at least one 1*, preferably one without a 2* variant, so that you can get an extra 2500 ISO daily (eventually) in DDQ, but more than one really depends on how much you like the character(s).

You want to build your 2* roster to be at minimum capable of handling the Big Enchilada, because *that* will accelerate your 3* roster transition. My 3* roster lacks only Iron Man - that by choice - and only three of my 3* have fewer than 13 covers. That is nearly entirely thanks to the Big Enchilada.

But, yeah, would recommend at least three maxed 2* on your roster, for DDQ if for no other reason.

I don't recommend eschewing 3* in favor of 2* as long as you've met that 2* minimum. If you're just starting out and you get a 3* cover in your first week of play, I'd keep it in my queue or sell it, honestly, unless you want to drop $5 to get some roster spots.

If you have a handful of 2* rostered, and they're characters you'll use rather than just who happens to have dropped, then at THAT point I'd start devoting roster spots to 3*.

Rostering 4* depends on where you are. You can't whale a 4* character with Hero Points anymore, so unless you have the resources to buy a roster spot and the willingness to carry that character until it becomes viable (my Nick Fury is only *just* reaching viability, a year-something later), you might be better off focusing on 3* until you've built that part of your roster out. 4* are becoming easier to get, thanks to Command Points, but it's still a much longer haul. If you have the Hero Points or the willingness to spend on roster spots, then absolutely, roster the 4*. Having them will let you complete essential nodes, which will help you get Command Points, reach progression targets (3* covers!) and placement (3* covers!) rewards.

[Umbrella]

Just to add on to what Sack is saying, don't necessarily focus on a 1* lineup, more on your 2* lineup. For me, I based my lineup solely on which covers I got. I would have liked to have Ares and Human Torch, but I didn't get their covers very often, while I was swimming in Moonstone covers. Chances are, you'll have a lot of Thor/Storm/Daken/Ms. Marvel/Wolverine covers, since these show up during the prologue. For me, I ended up selling Wolverine and Ms. Marvel. Thor has the same colors as Wolverine, and Thor leveled up much faster, and I just never liked Ms. Marvel's set that much.

I'm firmly in the 2* -> 3* transition phase. I've got a very good solid lineup of 2* (Champions Storm, Thor, Moonstone, Captain America, Maxed Daken, and Black Widow and Magneto with 13 covers in the 70's level). Before I reached that point, I was getting a few 3*, and even an occasional 4* cover. My thoughts were "3* must be inherently better than 2*", so I would get rid of a 2* character with a few covers to roster the 3*. In hindsight, this wasn't the best idea, since a 2* with a few covers is still stronger than a 1 cover 3*. Maybe if you get one of the superstar 3* covers, I would roster it early.

What I'm finding now that I focused on my core of 2* characters is that I can fly through DDQ, and start building my 3* roster. This isn't a hard rule, but I would say once you start getting some of your 2* around level 70 or so, then you want to think about starting to roster 3* covers. It's kind of a catch-22; you need 3* covers to access BE, but you get 3* covers from beating BE.

As an aside, now that I've gotten Magneto's level up, I have been trying the popular Thor/Magneto/Storm lineup for BE. Holy cow, these guys rock together! I haven't run into a ninja version yet, but these guys don't take any damage after the first wave. I ended up having to fire some powers in the third wave just because my banked tiles were maxing out. I think I will still use Thor/Moonstone/OBW against ninjas though.

Also, just had my first really high finish in a PvE event. I don't know if most people were concentrating on the Gauntlet, and skipped the Venom event, but I had a top 25 finish. I didn't do anything special, just finished all the nodes and collected all the awards. Yes, I'll enjoy those three Doom covers very much, putting him at 3/1/2.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

What I'm finding now that I focused on my core of 2* characters is that I can fly through DDQ, and start building my 3* roster. This isn't a hard rule, but I would say once you start getting some of your 2* around level 70 or so, then you want to think about starting to roster 3* covers. It's kind of a catch-22; you need 3* covers to access BE, but you get 3* covers from beating BE.

The tacos can/will earn you 3* covers, and the BE will help you *build* on that.

As an aside, now that I've gotten Magneto's level up, I have been trying the popular Thor/Magneto/Storm lineup for BE. Holy cow, these guys rock together! I haven't run into a ninja version yet, but these guys don't take any damage after the first wave. I ended up having to fire some powers in the third wave just because my banked tiles were maxing out. I think I will still use Thor/Moonstone/OBW against ninjas though.

Yeah, Thor and Magneto are a couple pretty great batteries for Storm.

That said, Thor covers two colors that Storm and Magneto already have covered, so that's a great way to get a board drenched in black tiles.

Also, just had my first really high finish in a PvE event. I don't know if most people were concentrating on the Gauntlet, and skipped the Venom event, but I had a top 25 finish. I didn't do anything special, just finished all the nodes and collected all the awards. Yes, I'll enjoy those three Doom covers very much, putting him at 3/1/2.

Grats!

[Toddzilla]

I finally got 25 command points and cashed them in today and got Black Spiderman

Also, if there is ever room in TROUT, please let me know

[Shoveler]

guessing you cant join alliances from the iphone version? cant seem to find that option